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….you know what I mean; some nights at the LFB are OK, some are good, and then….just now and then….you get one like this.It all started with Jonathan Klein and his very individual take on Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”, followed by his own “River Runs Dry”.

George Benn took us all prospecting to Californi-yay (my spelling) and then gave us his “Song for You”. Fresh from New York David Massengill invited us to join the Warthog Club by performing it’s hilarious “Internationale”. I would try to explain how this club was formed, but, frankly, you had to be there! This was followed by a lovely tribute to Lisi Russell, and finally a fabulous Blaze Foley song called, “Clay Pigeon”.

Rachel Cheyne doesn’t seem to perform often enough, so it was great to see her tonight, Chasing “Mr Time” and with “Feelings”. And so it came to our guest, Nigel Waite. He started with his own, “Shooting the Breeze”, but followed with a few covers, courtesy of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bryn Phillips and Richard Shindell , as well as a couple more of his own.

After the break and the super-extravagant raffle the acclaimed Bimbling took to the stage. Hannah and Sean are always original and fresh, but it was a shame that there wasn’t time for their new song about Brexit.

I think I’d only seen Martin George once before. I’d forgotten how good he is. Wonderful interpretations of “Fire and Rain” and “Hard Headed Woman” (no mean feat). I have seen BrianPrice a couple of times before. I had him marked down as a Beatles exponent (bloody good one, mind) but, tonight he played a couple from his own pen. “Monday Evening” was lovely and “Puberty Blues” was hilarious.

And so to Nigel’s second set. Rarely has an audience risen in such good voice to the invitation to join in. From Stan Rogers, thru Tim O’Brien to Pete Sinclair we raised the roof. Nigel finished what had been a wonderful evening with his own, “Once in a While”.

I guess once in a while you get a night like that.

Next time – March 6th – it will be an ‘open floor’ with David Massengill playing a guest spot….or two….so, hopefully, another one of those nights.

MC Jonathan Klein kicked off 2019 with Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis” and one of his own, “Farewell Sweet Europa”. He then invited Henry Campion to the ‘stage’ and Henry performed “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor, Dylan’s “Forever Young” and Don McLean’s “American Pie”.

Next up was Rachel Cheyne. Rachel sang two of her own compositions; “La Vie a Belle” and “Solent Mermaid”.

Then it was time for our guest David Fisher’s first set. His latest CD and accompanying book “Busking Beyond Borders” describe his travels throughout Europe over a period of three years. He sang; “People Say”, “The Blacksmith (traditional), “Girl From The Mountain Town”, “Living The Dream”, “Leave Her Johnny Leave Her” (shanty), “Northwest Passage” (Stan Rogers), “Lifeboat” (Sam Walter), “Come Join Me On The Road” and “The Rose of Turaida”.

After the break and raffle, Jonathan sang a relatively new song, “Candlelight”, before Steve & Ariane were invited to perform. They sang “Love Hurts” written by Boudleux Bryant, “Hotel California” by the Eagles and John Prine’s “In Spite of Ourselves”. George Benn then sang three of his songs; “Down at the Doctors”, “Evensong” and “Modern Life”.

And finally, it was time for David’s second set, the evening having whizzed by! “Ye Jacobites” (traditional), “There’s No Reason To Be Sad”, “Dance To Your Daddy” (traditional), “Road Scholar”, “Generic Folk Song” and Mick Ryan’s “The Widow”.

An extremely enjoyable evening! Next time, 6th February, local singer/songwriter Nigel Waite.

David Fisher travelled the world for over 3 years on a busking tour, taking in nearly 50 countries across 3 continents, including every country in the EU. This culminated in moving to Armenia to join a Celtic folk band called The Windrose, with whom he played a number of concerts before moving back to Britain to promote his new album and book, both entitled ‘Busking Beyond Borders’. As well as his own songs, Fisher also plays a range of traditional and contemporary folk songs, from sea shanties to Stan Rogers and Richard Thompson.

‘Busking Beyond Borders’ adroitly captures the beauty, magic and unpredictable thrill of life on the road’ – The Fix Magazine

‘Fisher has a talent for songwriting – he made a big impression’ – FolkAll

‘Looking forward to this talented young man appearing at Lymington Folk & Blues in the New Year’ – Lymington Acoustic

Our guest MC for the evening was local bluesman Peter Gabony. He introduced our first performer, the venerable Henry Campion. Are sang Sting’s “Fields of Gold” and two Bob Dylan songs; “Knocking’ on Heaven’s door” and “Like a Rolling Stone”. Following Henry were father & son bluegrass combo John & Steve Manser. They performed “Catfish John” written by Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds, “Open Up Your Mouth (And Let There Moonshine In) by Mike Bell, and “The Ballad of John Hurt” the origins of which are a little murky!

Next to the stage was Jonathan Klein. Jonathan was in a festive mood and sang Elton John’s “Your Song” (Xmas advert), “Merry Christmas Baby” a Christmas standard credited to Lou Baxter and Johnny Mooreand originally recorded in 1947, and Greg Lake’s “I Believe In Father Christmas”. Graham Wedge was next to the stage and performed “For Free” by Joni Mitchell, Buffy St Marie’s “Until It’s Time For You To Go” and his very own “You’re What Makes The World Go Round”.

After the break and raffle, our guest MC and his erstwhile long suffering partner took to the stage. Peter and Mike Shipman are better known as ‘The Rezzonators‘ and come from that unforgiving part of the country known as Sway and the Avon Water delta. They played Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues”, “Turn Your Money Green” by Furry Lewis and “Lincoln Town” by John Hiatt. Continuing with the blues theme, Keith Miller performed a song with harmonica and vocal he arranged based on a Son House song, “Don’t Mind Folks Grinning In My Face”. He picked up a guitar to sing “The Rains” by Fred Eaglesmith and “Everything Is Music” by Kris Delmhorst.

Next on stage was Jim Brown. With his banjo he sang “Louis Colllins” by Mississippi John Hurt, the traditional “Gospel Plough”, and recited one of his poems; “The Great Cycle Ride”. After the “Picture Quiz” (Won by Mike Shipman’s table), Jim remained on stage and was joined by Al Slipper (guitar/mandolin) and

Heather Slipper (fiddle/whistle). Together they performed the traditional “Jock Stewart”, “The Ferryman” by Donal O’Shaughnessy, two more traditional songs; “Tell Me Ma” and “Pay Me My Money Down”, then joined by Keith Miller on harmonica and Steve West, guitar and vocal, they performed “Corinna, Corinna” and finally, another traditional song “Two Dollar Bill”.

Next time, Wednesday 2nd December, we have special gust David Fisher. In the meantime, here’s wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, safe New Year.

MC for the evening was Steve West. He sang Tom Paxton’s “Fare Thee Well Cisco” before being joined on stage by fellow ‘Elderberries’ Derek Ayling (Blue) and Carole West (Holly). Holly sang “Sway”, written by Luis Demetrio, recorded by Pablo Beltrán Ruiz in 1953 and in the following year, the English version with lyrics by Norman Gimbel was recorded by Dean Martin. Steve (Raz) then sang “I’ll Fly Away”, now a standard but originally a hymn written in 1929 by Arthur E. Brumley.

Next to the stage was Jonathan Klein. He performed Marc Cohn’s “Walking In Memphis”, his own “Babylon” and “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” written by Harold Arden & Ted Koehler. Then it was time for our special guest Dom Prag. In his first set, he sang songs from his EP, all self penned; “The Girl and the Miner”, “Talitha”, “The Unemployment Song”, “Chemicals” and “Brighton Song”.

After the break and raffle, George Benn stepped onto the stage. He sang three of his songs; “Echo Spring”, “It’s All Been Said” and “Waiting”. Following George was a stalwart of the local folk scene, Laura Sunderland. On her accordion she played a set of tunes from Scotland, including “Eriskay Love Tilt” and “Mull of Kintyre”, from Wales, “Sweet Jenny Jones”, England, two shanties including “Drunken Sailor” and from Ireland, “Tralee Gaol”.

Next up was Hannah Snellgrove. She sang one of her own songs, “Dance With he Wind”, Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and another of her songs, “The Only Way is Wessex”. And to finish the evening, Dom returned for his second set. He sang the traditional “Black Leg Miner”, “Coal Not Dole” by Kay Sutcliffe and Paul Abrahams, a traditional song from Dorset, “The Sheep Stealer” (a.k.a “The Brisk Lad”), another traditional song, this time from Yorkshire, “Fosters Mill”, “Young Man on a Ferry” written by Dom himself, Eric Bogle’s “No Mans Land” (a.k.a. The Green Fields of France), “Vincent Black Lightning” by Richard Thompson, and a well deserved encore, Martin Carthy’s “Cold Haily Rainy Night”.

Unfortunately, our guest was unable to make it tonight. However, what potentially could have been a “quiet” evening turned into a memorable occasion.

MC Jon Ellis brought his mandolin and harp to the stage to perform the classic “Across The Borderline” written by John Hiatt, Ry Cooder and Jim Dickinson, two waltzes; “Rock Salmon” and “Marino”, and “John Hill” by Sean Cooney of the ‘Young un’s’. Next up was wonderful singer/songwriter Jonathan Klein. He sang a new song; “I Like To Hammer on a Sundays”, which was very well received, Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” and another of his compositions; “The Veil Dance”.

Jon then introduced ‘Nomad‘ to the audience. Heather & Al Slipper (fiddle/whistle, guitar) performed “Tell Me Ma”, “Good Old England”, “Beggarman”, and “The Hills of Connemara” by Sean McCarthy. And then it was time for our surprise guest of the evening! Roy Stark was visiting Lymington to see family. He lives in Hong Kong! He just happened to be in The Tripp having a meal. I was putting up the club noticeboard and as an aside said: “If you fancy having a go….?”. Well…. He borrowed a guitar from Al, and Jon’s mandolin, and proceeded to blow away the audience! He performed Leadbelly’s “Bourgois Blues” in the style of Ry Cooder, “Got The Blues (Can’t Be Satisfied)” by Mississippi John Hurt, and Steve Tilston’s “Rain All Around Me”.

After the break and raffle, Jon welcomed ‘Banjo Free‘ to the stage. Tony & Mary Parry and Steve King performed “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams, Aoife O’Donovan’s “Oh, Mama”, the standard “Summertime”, composed by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward, and the pop classic “When Will I Be Loved?” by Phil Everly. Next was another fine songwriter, George Benn. He sang; “Song For You”, “Stonehenge Blues”, and “Deep and Rolling Sea”.

Following on from George was Carole West. She sang Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day”, the traditional “I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me”, and another Irish traditional song, “The Galway Shawl”. Graham Wedge is a newcomer to the club but is becoming well known on the local sing-a-round circuit. He played John Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” and “Pocahontas” by Neil Young.

Jon invited Roy back for a second set. He performed Ry Cooder’s “Big Railroad Blues”, and “How Happy I Am” by The Incredible String Band. To finish the evening, Heather and Al were joined by yours truly for “Home Boys Home” and “The Leaving of Lymington”.

What a night!!! Next time, 3rd October, with any luck, we’ll have the very talented Dom Prag.

MC Henry Campion got the evening started with a spirited rendition of Al Stewart’s “The Dark and Rolling Sea”, Martin Carthy’s version of a traditional sealing song from New Zealand “Davy Lowston” and “Half Way Up The Stairs” by Sixto Rodriguez. Henry then welcomed “The Venerable” Jonathan Klein to the stage. JK sang The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil”, “The Kid” by Bobby Mondlock and one his own compositions, “My Ubiquitous Rock Chick”.

Next up was Jim Brown. Jim sang the American traditional “Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies”, “Suzanne” by Leonard Cohen and “Miner’s Lullaby” by ‘Utah’ Phillips, Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin. Following Jim was George Benn. George performed three of his own songs; “The Ghost”, “Time” and “Down to the Doctors”.

After the break and raffle, Henry sang Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tamborine Man” before welcoming Jonathan back to the stage. The professor sang Led Zeppelin’s “Rock n Roll”, and two of his songs; “God’s Children” and a personal favourite, “Space Is Deep, Love Is Deeper”. Jon Ellis brought his tin whistle onto the stage to perform a medley of WWI tunes; “The Battle of the Somme/Road to Passchendaele/Father John Macmillan of Barra” and two reels; “The Ships Are Sailing/The Boys of the Lough”.

Jim Brown commenced his second set with Donovan’s “To Try For The Sun”, followed by “Dance Me To The End of Time” by Leonard Cohen and another American traditional song “Poor Wayfaring Stranger”. George sang three more of his fine compositions; “Interesting Times”, “So Many Miles” and “The Village Dance”.

To finish the evening, Henry sang “Close Your Eyes” by James Taylor and “Wagon Wheel”, composed by Bob Dylan and Keith Secor.

Jonathan Klein was MC on this warm July evening, and kicked off proceedings by commemorating the USA’s Independence Day by playing Paul Simon’s America, following this up with another Simon song, Under African Skies, and one of his own, Guy with a Guitar. Then Jon Ellis, equipped with a mandolin, treated us to a couple of songs about the First World War: Jez Lowe’s poignantly comic The Wrong Bus, and Ralph McTell’s wistful Maginot Waltz.

Apparently our two special guests for the evening first met when they shared the bill at the Club a couple of years ago. We were delighted to bring them together for a second time. Nick Hayward-Young took to the stage with a selection of his gentle and thoughtful songs: Down South, The Analyst’s Song,The Most Perfect Day and Salterns Lake. Our second guest, Jimmie Lee Morris, followed this up with an equally accomplished set of his own material: Give Me All Your Love, Wilderness Wood, Campervan Song, Sleep in the Morning, Take Me Home and Mandolin Dreams.

After the break, Jonathan played Wonderful World (Lou Adler, Herb Alpert & Sam Cooke), after which it was time for a welcome return to the Club from occasional visitor Ian Halliday, who gave a spirited rendition of Dancing in the Dark(Bruce Springsteen), Lady Eleanor (Alan Hull), Me And Julio down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon) and I’m Gonna Be (Charlie Reid & Craig Reid).

Time, then, for second sets from our guests. This time Jimmie Lee Morris went on first, to play another selection of his beautifully crafted compositions: Staying Forever, Let Me Lay, Open Your Eyes Now, Look at Me, and Atlantic Highway. He finished his set with a delightful interpretation of Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me, Babe. Nick Hayward-Young responded with another superb set: I’ll Be Lying to You, I Don’t Want to be the One Who Says it’s Over, Will You Be My Girlfriend?,Let Me Kiss You, This is the Delta, and This is For You. He finished the evening for us with Dream a Little Dream of Me (Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt & Gus Khan).

Another great evening, featuring songs from two terrific singer-songwriters. You can hear both Jimmie’s and Nick’s songs (and also Jonathan’s) on Spotify and iTunes.

I was reminded that this evening was the 8th anniversary of “Lymington Folk Club” at the Thomas Tripp! Given what’s happening to pubs and clubs all over the country, this is good news!

However, like many other venues of our size, audience numbers are falling and it would be a shame to lose another ‘live’ music space. Notwithstanding, last night we had a good audience who enjoyed some of the best in acoustic music to be had locally, or indeed anywhere.

Bill Hesp, regular MC at Milford Folk Club, was our guest MC this evening. He sang an American folk song “Cindy”, “Waist Deep In The Big Muddy” by Pete Seeger and John Prine’s “Paradise”. Then, Bill invited Jonathan Klein to the stage. Jonathan sang two of his own songs; “Hypothetically”, “Even When The Moon Is New” and “Sultans of Swing” by Mark Knopfler & Dire Straits.

Next was Jon Ellis. Jon played three bagpipe battlefield tunes on his whistle in memory of the Battle of the Somme (next month is the 100th anniversary), he sang an unaccompanied song “Jack The Can”, and played “Ashoken Farewell” by Jay Ungar. Following Jon was Henry Campion. Henry performed Al Stewart’s “In Brooklyn”, Sandy Denny’s “Nothing More” and “The Hour The Ship Comes In” by Bob Dylan. The final act of the first half was Mike Richards. He sang “Dublin Blues” by Guy Clark, Cyril Tawney’s “On A Monday Morning” and a blues standard, “Hesitation Blues”.

After the break and raffle, Bill sang the traditional “House of the Rising Sun” before introducing Brian & Chris to the audience. They sang (beautifully) “If I Needed Someone” by George Harrison off the “Rubber Soul” album, Paul Simon’s “Homeward Bound” and then Chris left Brian to sing his own “Guilty” from his 2016 album “Like A River”, which comes highly recommended (by me!).

George Benn has, thankfully, become a regular with us. He is a fine singer/songwriter and sang three of his songs this evening; “Business As Usual”, “So Many Miles” and the infectious “The Village Dance”. Next up were Steve & Ariane. Guitar, mandolin and flute formed the background to their set which commenced with Steve’s “Dance In The Moon” and continued with “Only You” by Vince Clarke, a big hit for Yazoo and the Flying Pickets (more of them in a minute!), and Steve Earle’s “Galway Girl”.

The next performer is a current member of The Flying Pickets!! Who would have guessed it! Martin George, has had a varied career as actor, singer, musician and West End star! He sang “Willin'” by Lowell George, “Pancho and Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt”, one of his own songs, “Nothing In Between” and Robbie Robertson’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.

And finally, the last act of the evening, The Hobos. Steve, Jim, Dave, Al & Heather performed “Carolina Star” written by bluegrass legend Tony Rice, the Irish traditional “Step It Out Mary”, the American traditional “Tear My Still House Down” and the standard “Corrina, Corinna”.

Next month is a Lymington Arts Festival special featuring Jimmie Lee Morris and Nick Hayward Young and room for a couple of floor singers. Please come to listen to two great artists and support local, ‘live’ acoustic music, donations of raffle prizes always welcome! Until next time…..